Good People
by HecateA
Summary: In which Jason's first breakup leads to somewhat of an existential crisis which Percy accidentally stumbled into. Oneshot.


**Massive, massive Burning Maze spoilers ahead.**

 **HOT DAMN MY ENTIRE BRAIN HAS BEEN SCREAMING SINCE MAY 2 WHEN I WAS MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS AND BUSSING TO WORK WHEN MY ACTUAL CHILD DIED. And now that my home girl's finished The Burning Maze too, I can officially write fanfiction about how hard Rick Riordan destroyed me. I've got to say, Jason was the first fictional character that I could relate to. Not that I liked or wanted to be or was sort of like, but whose emotions and unease and in-betweenness I could relate to and sympathise with. So yeah, you guys are going to get some sad fanfiction about this.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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 **Good People**

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Percy wasn't actually sure if he was allowed to walk into Cabin 1, but Jason had come over regularly for sleepovers after the War with Gaia without ever bursting into flames, so Percy figured that Zeus would probably let him in. Besides, Percy was coming in to check on Jason who had busted his knee. Surely that was a motive Zeus could respect. Or did Zeus not care because Jason was Jupiter's? Percy didn't really care enough to think it through, he knocked and let himself in.

The décor in Zeus' cabin was pretty intimidating and, frankly, awful. It made Percy thankful that Poseidon hadn't put a statue of himself in the middle of Cabin 3 and had let his children have their own place for themselves.

Jason had burrowed in one of the alcoves in the wall, which he had filled with a bedroll and a sleeping bag that he undoubtedly rolled up every morning to keep the place neat, his pack set at the foot of his bed with the utmost roman discipline. A small lantern and a pile of books stood nearby, and he had pasted pictures of both camps and friends on the wall to make it homelier. There was even a map of the United States with colourful travel routes connecting camps to various magical hotspots.

"Hey," Percy said coming in. He took another step inside without bursting into flames. Good.

Jason looked up from the book he was reading- some encyclopedia of minor gods that a child of Athena had written ages ago and that Annabeth had dusted off for him.

"Oh, hi," Jason said. He blinked, a little surprised to see Percy. "I guess my dad wasn't in the mood to strike you dead."

"He probably is, just holding back," Percy said. "He usually is, anyways."

Jason sat up and put his book down. Percy sat at the foot of his bed and looked around.

"I know," Jason said. "The statue is scary."

"Yeah it is," Percy said. "If you want to crash on a real bed, come over. It's probably good too if your knee is still bothering you..."

"I'm good, thanks," Jason said without sounding good at all. "I think I'm just going to end up staying in for the night."

"That's probably a good idea. Rest, elevate, ice it and all... Annabeth is going to be upset that you're not playing tonight. Now that she could finally cash in that favour and get you on our team, she was sure she'd make Clarisse eat dirt."

Jason paled. "No, no. Can you- can you tell her not to make a big deal about it? I just want to lay low for tonight."

Percy arched an eyebrow, and Jason swallowed hard and looked away. For all the arguing and fighting and disagreeing and annoying they got into, they'd learned how to read each other pretty well over the last few months.

"Your knee is fine, isn't it?" Percy asked.

"Yes, but my French teacher really did try to kill me."

"Sure," Percy said.

Jason swallowed hard. "Piper and I broke up."

Percy's eyes widened.

"I had no idea. When?"

"Around a week ago. When we leave camp, I'm moving into a new school. It's a nice place, not too far from home. They have a massive physics lab and a basketball court and a this great view of the night sky… I'll be fine."

It sounded stale.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know things weren't going well." Percy said.

"Neither did I. Well, no, that's wrong, I did. But they weren't really, wrong, they... It's fine. I get it. I understand where she's coming from, and I respect it. She's doing what I did after fifteen years in the Legion and two wars. Leaving the path that someone chose for you and expected you to follow to go do something else instead, you know? It was a cliché, really. For her to go off on a quest and come back strong and settle down with a son of Jupiter…"

Jason flinched at his own words. He held his head in his hands.

"This is my worse nightmare," he said in a way that made Percy unsure of whether or not he was supposed to hear that. But he was, because really who else could Jason tell?

"I didn't…" Jason went on. "I wasn't trying to just… I didn't want to mess this up, I was being careful and taking it seriously and all, it wasn't a game to me…"

"Hey, hey. Back up Jason. Nobody thinks that. Piper definitely didn't think like that."

"They expect it, though. They wouldn't be surprised. As soon as the rumour mill starts going about this, you know that's what's going to come out. For a son of Zeus _or_ Jupiter, he's really not that different from one shape to the other he's always like this. He can never make a real relationship work."

"Jason, breathe. Having a relationship isn't easy. Nobody gets it on the first try, you can't feel bad about that."

"There's you and Annabeth," Jason said.

Percy's eyes hardened.

"I wish people wouldn't say that when they missed the first five years of Annabeth and I. We fought to get where we are too."

"I'm sorry," Jason said. "I'm just… I didn't want this to end this way."

"Did you want to go to university with Piper and marry Piper and spend the rest of your life with her and have kids with Piper and grow old with Piper and get put in a retirement home with Piper?" Percy asked. Jason didn't answer, which was fair because that was a hell of a question. "I'm really sorry dude, but that's how relationships work. You get married, or you break up. And that doesn't have to be the end of the world. But yeah, it's going to suck for a bit."

"You're right, you're right. I know you're right, I just hate feeling like my father."

"And you don't have to," Percy said. "Hell, if you were anything like him you wouldn't be here giving Pipes space and listening to what she needs and being reasonable and hurting. You'd be some sort of rage monster and Piper would be turned into some sort of a bug."

It occurred to Percy that this was no particularly helpful. He sighed.

"Look, I know that your dad gets a lot of slack for the way that he treats women, as he should. And he can also be distant and quick to anger and hard to read. But the gods are all pretty horrible. Do you know who my, like, third monster ever was?"

"No."

"Medusa. Some girl my dad slept with and then ditched once Athena got mad and transformed her into a monster. I'd been claimed for, like, fourty-eight hours. It wasn't a great introduction to a guy I was already not too sure about. And Athena? Let me tell you, Athena is a lot to handle- she's cold, she understands mortals as specimens in a jar not as things she can empathise with, and she can be kind of mean. The whole Arachne thing is a good example, and that's something that Annabeth had to deal with last summer. And I had to slay Medusa. And you have to deal with a legacy."

Jason nodded.

"It's not just me who has to think that. It's…" Jason shook his head. "I've had to worry about my reputation a lot more than you. You can get away with a lot more than me, especially with the two camps starting to get along and me doing the back and forth…"

"You can get away with being human," Percy said. "Everyone understands that. People respect that. And honestly, that'll make you different from Jupiter. There's a way for us to be different than our fathers without being perfect. It's not one or the other, Jason. We're good people."

Jason smiled to Percy a little bit sadly and a little bit thankfully.

"Maybe it's good," Percy said. "This guidance counsellor at school has this poster that says 'every door that closes means a new one opens' and she's full of crap, but I think her poster's sort of legit. I mean, I remember when I left Ogygia, when I left Calypso... She was a huge _what if?_ Or she used to be. If I hadn't left Ogygia, I wouldn't have Annabeth. I don't even know what that would look like. I'd probably have reverted back to some kind of a cave person who didn't know about language or fire or wheels. And sure, Ogygia is a beautiful place where I would never have been hungry or in danger, but that's not the kind of life I want. I wanted to come home to my family, and finish my prophecy, and yeah, I wanted to be with my friends and Annabeth. So you've got to wonder what you want Jason."

Jason nodded. He fidgeted with his glasses.

"I like being in school. I know you hate it, but I like physics and my professor says he thinks I have a mind for it. So I want to keep going to school. I also like working for the camps, I want to keep building up the temple collection in California. And I want to go to college one day, somewhere with a real white Winter because I've never had a real Winter- the ones at Camp don't count. I want to see Thalia more. I want to learn to cook because I have to now, and I want to read more. I want to try all the flavours of Oreos that they have, because those things are _delicious._ "

Percy started laughing. "Dude, I'll go buy them for you."

"I don't understand why our dads fight so much. It's a lot less lonely with you here," Jason said.

"Thanks, man. I like having you around too." Percy rubbed his hands together nervously. "Thalia and I butted heads like crazy and Nico's a little bit of a flight risk and Hazel's too good for this world. But I get you, and you get me, and I think we're good family for each other."

"Yeah," Jason said. "We can spread out that scent throughout the country."

Percy laughed. Jason grinned.

"And you can keep your girlfriend from killing me for skipping Capture-the-Flag," Jason said.

"You can bring snacks to my cabin tonight when you ask the harpies since they're not jaded about you yet," Percy said.

"You can let me hang out with your adorable little sister once she's born."

"You can help my approval ratings with Reyna go up."

"You can help me with my Greek," Jason said.

"I probably can't, actually," Percy said. "But I will keep you human. And that means that sometimes things don't work out, and that's okay because there's still time to keep going."

"Yeah," Jason said nodding. "Yeah, she's going to be okay."

"And you're going to be okay too," Percy said. "You're a good person. And you're going to be okay."

"Yeah, me too," Jason nodded. "I'm a good person. And I'm going to be okay."


End file.
